There is no Testimony without the TEST

Letter:  Elder Coletti 1/24/2016 Week 27 

Hello!  This week was definitely an odd one here in Taiwan!  It had to be one of the coldest winters Taiwan has seen in years!  It was super, super windy and basically rained nonstop all week.  I heard that in other parts of Taiwan it even snowed!  A bunch of Taiwanese people traveled to where they could see snow because a lot of them have never seen snow before in their life!  Taiwanese people are so funny though!  They are the biggest pushovers when it comes to weather!  Considering that it rains every other day in Taiwan, you would think that they would be used to being out in the rain and functioning with it.  HA!  Not the case.  Because of all of the rain storms, they were canceling their lessons.  They would still insist on cancelling even when we would say we would come to their homes!  They would just continue saying, "You can't come over!  It's raining outside!" I love the people here!  They are just so cute!  Due to the rain, we have not been able to do a lot of teaching. God has blessed Elder Crawford and myself beyond measure.  I absolutely love serving in Taiwan and I cannot wait to see what the future holds. 

Because of the weather here, I have been pondering turbulence/trials in life this week.  Think of the turbulence, trials or struggles that you have in life.  What is holding you back from getting into the open skies of heaven.....from being happy...the kind of happy that only Heavenly Father can provide?!  Testimonies grow through TESTS!   Let's focus on finding the blessings and lessons learned in the turbulence, trials and struggles we face we face in life. Let's grow from our TESTS and then lets TESTIFY. Get through the test, get through the turbulence, rely on the Lord. Then and only then will you find your way to the clear and open skies of heaven.  Because it is once you are in the open skies of heaven, once you have worked your way through all of the snow, smog and haze that you can see the beauty that God has set before us and truly appreciate all of his glory and wisdom.  When we look back on turbulence, we realize.... God was there all along and he always will be.

 Love you all!  Find that open sky!;)

Elder Coletti

"God's gift to you is this life. Your gift to him is what you do with it."

Hello everybody!  First and foremost,  thank you all for the wonderful emails.  I absolutely love to hear what is going on in everyone's lives and to hear what is going on in America!  Taiwan's culture is so much different than America (it is night and day different), but I love it nonetheless!

 

 

This week in Taiwan was truly amazing.  Elder Crawford and I worked our tails off!  We didn't literally work our tails off, but ours butts are pretty sore from being on our bikes so much!;) We saw so many miracles this week because of that work.  I guess it is true that miracles require effort and hard work.  I'm going to be honest for a moment.  Missionary work has got to be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.  I remember talking with many return missionaries and all of them telling me that their missions were the hardest thing they have ever done.  Whenever I would hear them say that, I would think to myself, "Psh, I play football!  Nothing is as hard as that!"  Now don't get me wrong, football is definitely one of the hardest activities for the body,  but I don't think it even compares to the beating you take as a missionary.  I always thought that missionary work would be a cakewalk, but now that I am here, I understand what all of those return missionaries were telling me.  I have been tested physically, mentally, socially, intellectually, and spiritually more than I ever have been in my entire life!  However, I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every second of it.  I also remember all of those return missionaries telling me how much they loved their missions and how it was one of the best experiences of their lives.  I'm starting to realize now, how right they were.  I have learned more from  these past 6 months here in Taiwan than the I have in the previous 18 years of my life!  God truly blesses those that are in his service.

I want to challenge everyone to always be in the service of God.  I love this quote: "God's gift to you is this life.  Your gift to him is what you do with it."  God has given us this opportunity here on earth to truly have joy.  I can guarantee every one of you that if you give of yourself to help others, that is when you will feel true joy.  God has gifted each and every one of us with the ability of leadership.  Don't waste it!  God wants to count on us to do his work here, to spread his gospel and to feed his sheep.  Can he count on us?

 

I love you all more than I can ever express. All of you motivate me to become, not only a better missionary, but a better man.  Thank you all for your inspiration and examples. God loves us more than we can ever comprehend.  Life is not easy.  If it is easy for you, than are you truly living?  God has given us so many abilities and talents, but what is the point in having these abilitities if we aren't going to use them?!  I promise that God will reward us for our sacrifices.  The reward will always be greater than the sacrifice.  I challenge all of you to be a better follower of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  He gave his life for us, the least we can do is give our time, energy, talents and effort to his cause.  Use those God given talents, skills, and leadership to change someone's life.  It may not be easy or come natural, but God will help you along the way.

I'll end with another quote I love:  "God does not call the qualified....He qualifies the called."

 

I love you all!

 

Elder Coletti

田甜圈長老

Love Everyone and Happiness through Christ

Elder Coletti's Letter 1/11/16 Week 25

This week was awesome!  I want to focus on two people that Elder Crawford and I have been working on.  They are so awesome!  So first off we have...

 

Wang Yi Kai

He is a tea shop owner that has absolutely no friends.  Elder Crawford and I stumbled upon him and it was a super awkward first lesson.  We literally sat waiting for about 45 minutes before Wang Yi Kai even sat down with us!  He kept going to the back of his shop and then started making some tea (the kind we can drink) for us!  Wang Yi Kai is somewhere in his 40-50s.  He is a very timid man who hardly talks.  The whole time Elder Crawford and I were debating on if we should just leave and if this was worth our time, but something was telling us that we should stay just a little bit longer.  He wasn't showing to much interest in our message.  We asked him if he wanted to come to church, and he said, "Will I have to pay?"  After we told him of course not, he was hooked!  He wasn't interested in talking to us because the whole time he thought he had to pay to go to our church! He  came to church later that week, and he brought his Book of Mormon all marked up.  He is an ABSOLUTE perfectionist.  He puts perfect underlines under every SCRIPTURE, not chapter but SCRIPTURE.  He puts a checkmark above every verse after he reads it so that he can remember that he already read it!  He has bookmarks for chapters that he has read, and on the bookmark are questions that those chapters answer!  Such as, "What is the purpose of life?" and "Does God really answer prayers?"  It just made me think, that had Elder Crawford and I left, Wang Yi Kai would not be progressing the way that he is now.  He now reads the Book of Mormon completely on his own.  He is almost to the point that he comes to church without us even inviting him.  He was a very lonely man, that needed a hole filled in his life.  This experience testified to me that people have challenges and trials that none of us at first can understand or even see. We have to love everyone and give them a chance. I love Wang Yi Kai so much.  Everytime I see him, he will tell me "Very Awesome" because that was an english phrase that I taught him!  He will always have a special place in my heart.

Max

Elder Crawford and I were out finding when we found Max.  We started talking to him and we noticed that he had 6 dogs circled around him at ALL times.  We asked him why he has all of these dogs and he tells us that we should check out his backyard. So we go in his backyard, and I am not kidding, he had 10 more dogs!  He has 16 dogs living with him!  He told us that these dogs don't have owners and neither does he so they follow him everywhere!  Max was born in 1929.  He is about 88 years old and it looks like he hasn't showered his entire life.  When we shake his hands, it almost feels like we are holding leather!  He literally lives in a house of pilled trash.  I felt so bad for him!  He has no money, no job, nothing (excluding the 16 dogs).  He always has the biggest smile I have ever seen on a person.  He ended up telling us that he has already been baptized in our church. It turns out that he is a Less Active member at the moment.  He is such a humble person.  He literally has nothing in his life, but his love for people is really motivating.  Everytime we go to his house, he shouts "Is that Elder Tian?!" (Tian is my Chinese name).  He really motivates me to enjoy everything I have, especially my Savior Jesus Christ.  He was telling us that while he was fighting in World War II, (remember he was born in 1929!) he was having a really hard time.  He was around 16 at the time and was scared, but Jesus helped him through it.  He helped him overcome his weaknesses and kept helping him push through the turbulance.  Max, though he doesn't realize it, has motivated me beyond comprehension.  He taught me to enjoy the things I have and to remember that Christ can help me through anything.  Something funny that Max does is that everytime he talks about America (which is all that he talks about) he talks about Brigham Young, but he prounounces it "Breeeg Yuuuuung!"  Super funny!  All that he talks about is Jesus, and America.

 

This week was spectacular.  I want you all to follow the example that Wang Yi Kai and Max have set for us.  Wang Yi Kai taught us that we need to love people.  At first people may seem strange, but if you are patient enough with them and follow the Spirit, miracles will occur.  Max has taught us that we need to remember the role that Christ has played for us.  He can help us overcome anything.  It doesn't matter what we have in life, if we have Christ then we can be happy.

 

Love you all!  Strive to get better everyday!

 

Elder Coletti

Picture 1: Wang Yi Kai

Picture 2: Max

When life gets to hard to stand.....kneel.

Elder Coletti's Letter 1/4/2015 Week 24

This week had to be one of the HARDEST working weeks of my life!  Elder Crawford and I had a goal that we were going to hit all of the Standards of Excellence this week.  MeiLun has been in a little slump lately and the work isn't progressing as much as President Jergensen would like.  A goal that Elder Crawford and I made was to work hard and get everything back to the standard that President has set for us.  This week was extremely hard, and at times we didn't think we could keep moving, but the Lord definitley helped us out A LOT!  A cool quote that I came upon was one from a very wise man named Gordon B. Hinckley:)  He said "When life gets too hard to stand, kneel."  I cannot express how true that is!  We ended up hitting almost all of the Standards of Excellence. Heavenly Father, definitely blessed us this week.  I do not have too much time to email today because of our activities planned for pday, but I do want to invite everyone to rely on God to get past hard times.  Rely on him to help you become better as people.  I love you all so much!  I'll write a bigger email next week!  Sorry....Haha!  The joys of missionary work!

 

Elder Coletti